Freight-car door



J. L. GUERRANT. FREIGHT'CAR D'OOR.

. 2 suusrs-suazr 1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 1. L. GUERRANT. FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLlCATlON FILED APR.29| 1919.

JOHN I1. GUERRANT, 01E SEDALIA, MISSOURI/ FREIGHT-CAR. noon;

Application filed April 29,

T 0 all whom it may concern v p I 7 Be it known that I, JOHN L. GUERRANT, a

citizen of the United States, and residing at Sedalia, in the county of Pettis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Car Doors, of which the following isa' specification.

The present invention relates" to freight car doors, and aims to provide means for mounting a freight car door and holding that the door can slide open in the usual way, with the added advantage that the door can swing outwardly away from the dooropening, such as when the merchandise in the car presses or jams against the; door preventing the same sliding open.

With the-ordinary sliding door, it 1s frequently the case that the merchandise or willjanr or wedge against the door, preventing the door being slid open,-'and crowbars and other implements are generally used for prying the door open, resulting 1n damage to the car and door and sometimes to the merchandise. I This, invention resides inthe mounting of the door for sliding movement and also permitting the door to swing outwardly whenv necessary, with novel; means for ordinarily holding the lower edge of the door against the wall-of the ear and guiding it to and from the lower end of the door opening, such means being operable, should.

the door to swing outwardly,,wherebythe merchandise which obstructsthe door can be removed so as topermit the door to he slid open in the usual way. The improvements thus reside in means for permitting the door to swing outwardly in emergency, as ivhen the freight or merchandise falls against-the door, Wedging it tight. I I I I A, further obj ect is the provision of a plate hinged to 'thelower-edge of the door and cooperable with a guiding and holdingstrip extending along, the sill. of the car, means being provided for securing said plate to the door, so that the door is ordiinarily guided along said strip and held against the wall of the car, said plate when released-i in case of emergency, permitting the'doorto swing voutwardly away 'fromthe door opening.

It is also the object of; therinrentionrto provide a door construction; embodying the IIDPI'OVGIHBHtS. above noted, and which, at the sametime, will be comparatively simple view, 'which'will beapparent as the idescripportion of the door and hanger; contents of the car in; beingjostled about,

and inexpensive in construction, as well as 'beingfpractical and efiicient in use.

aVVith the foregoing and other objects in J tion proceeds,:the invention resides in the construction and arrangement. of parts here 1 inafter described and claimed, it'sbeing un- I d'erstood that changes can be made within the scope of whatis claimed without depart-H 111g from the spirit of the i L3 and guiding itat the side of thecar, in, order invention.

panying drawings, wherein-.- u I Figure 1 1s an outsideelevati'on of the door embodying the improvements.

in g 'movement alongithe' car; wall and for swinglngi movement to and from said wall.

The invention is illustrated-inthe'accom- Figure 4: 1s a view similar to'Figu'reQ I illustrating a modification. I

The door 1 can be of woodor other suit-' able-construction, and issuspended for slid- I so. I

Thus, the hinge plateor leaf 2isf secured to I the outerside of the :door near and spaced slightly below the upper edge of'the door, said plate" 2 extending substantially the ywidthof the door, and being-hinged, as at 3, to theloweredge ofahanger plate 4: also extending the width of the door, and provided at its uppcredge with a T-hea d, the the door sticker fail toslide open, to permit flanges-of which are movable. on r'ollers 5 mountedwithin the channels of thetrack 6 carried by the car wall and extending'over the door opening and tofone'side thereof. This permits the door to be moved freely to and from the. opening, andpr'ovides a'wind and rain proof trackandhanger, preventing rain, snow and sleetz'from entering the car above thedoor. It will benoted that the hinge 3 is at theoute-r side ofthe door below :the upper edge thereof, preventing rain or moisture. from passing through the hinge behind the door, and the lower portion of I wardly to. vertical'position, the upper edge of thedoorand hanger plate from breaking or shifting outwardly. The hinge. permits 7 I the'd'oor to swing outwardly at its lower edge, when the door is rele ased,'forthe purposeofremoving the merchandise or freight which obstructs the door to prevent the same sliding open in the usual way.

In order to hold the lower edge of the door against the car wall and to guide it tor longitudinal movement along said well, a plate 7 extending the width of the door 1 is hinged, as at 8, to the lower edge of the door, and a longitudinal strip or bar 9 is secured to the sill and is coextensive in length with the track 6, extending below the opening and to one side thereof. Plates or strips 10 nd 11 are secured to the lower edge portion of the door, the plate 10 the outer side, and the Z-plate 11 to the lower edge and rear sideof the door, and the plate 7 is hinged to the plates 10 and 11. The strip 9 has its upper edge offset outwardly, to provide the upstanding flange 12, while the plate'7 is provided with a rearwardly or inwardly extending hook-shaped portion or flange 13 extending downwardly behind the flange 12 when the plate 7 is swung upwardly against the door 1, which is the normal position 01"" the parts, as shown in full lines in Figure 2. Thus, the flange 13 sliding behind the flange 12, will guide the lower edge of the door and also retain it against the side of the car, 1n

order that the door can slide open and shut in the ordinary way.

The plate 7 has one or more arms 14 extending from its tree edge to bear against the-door-l, for securing the plate 7 to the.

door in order to hold the flange 13 behind the flange 12. As a means "for securing said arms to the door 1, nuts 15 are embedded in the door 1, and screws 16 are carried by the arms 14 and have handl s 17 at their outer ends, whereby said screws can be threaded into the nuts for securing and holding the plate 7 against the door, although other equivalent means can be used for this purpose.

It cepting in case of emergency, when the freight or merchandise wedges against the door, preventing it from sliding open. In this case, the plate 7 is released from the door 1, and will swing downwardly, as seen in dotted lines in Figure 2, thereby raising the flange 13 upwardly from behind the flange 12, and permitting the door to swing open. The merchandise which obstructs the sliding movement of the door, can then be,

is unnecessary to release the plate 7, ext- The improvements thus serve to prevent theft and leakage, as well as permitting the door to swing open when necessary.

A vertical stop 18 for the door 1 is provided at one side of: the door opening as usual, and a stop 19 is carried by the car wall to limit the opening of the door. ordinary looking or sealing device 20 can be used for holding the door 1 closed.

Figure d illustrates the use of the improvements with a sill S of T-iron. Thus, the strip 9 is secured to the web of the sill under the outer flange, and the plate 7 has a portion 7 extending at an angle rearward under the lower edge of the door'l and hinged, as at 8, to the lower edge of a plate 11 secured to the inner side of the door and extending below the lower edge thereof.

In this form, the hinge 8 is at the inner side of the door,'instead of the outer side, as in l igure 2, and the plate 7 is shaped to extend under the lower edge of the door and upwardly to overlap the outer side thereof. This permits the flanges 12 and 13 to be located below the outer flange of the sill. Otherwise, the construction is about the same as illustrated in Figure 2.-

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. The combination of a car wall having an opening, a door to close said opening,

means for suspending said door for sliding movement along said wall and for swinging movement away from said opening, a strip extending along said wall below said opening and having an upwardly extending flange, and a plate carried by the lower edge portion of and'extending the width of the door, said plate being movable upwardly and downwardly relatively tot-he door and'hav- 'ing a flange to move downwardly below the lower edge portion of the door behind the aforesaid flange to hold theloweredge portion of the dooragainst and guide it along said wall.

2. The combinationoi a car wall having an opening, a door to close said opening, means for suspending said door for sliding movement along said wall and for swinging movement away from said opening, a strip extending along said wall below said opening and having an upwardly extending flange, a plate hinged to the lower edge portion of the door and having a flange to swing downwardly behind the aforesaid flange, and means for. swinging said plate to move the flange thereof and hold it behindthe first named flange. l

3. The combination of a car wall having an opening, a door to close said opening, means for suspending said door for sliding movement along said wall and for swinging movement'away from said opening, a strip extending along said wall below said opening and having an upwardly extending morons a 8 flange, a plate hinged to the lower edge poroverlapping the upper edge portion of the tion of the door to swing upwardly against door on the outer side thereof, and hingedly the outer side of the door and provided at connected to the outer side of the door below 15 the hinge with aflange to swing downwardly the upper edge of the door, to enable the 5 behind the aforesaid flange, and means for. door to swing away from said'opening, the securing said plate to the door. upper edge of the door swinging adjacent to 4. The combination of a car wall having said hanger when the door is swung toward an opening, a door to close said opening, a said wall, and means for holding the door 20 track extending over said opening, a hanger against said wall. r r 10 extending the width of the door and sus- In testimony whereof I hereunto set my pended from the track for sliding movement, hand. I v said hanger having its lower edge portion JOHN L. GUERRANT. u 

